Accomplishments← Previous revisionRevision as of 17:38, 27 October 2026 Line 31: Line 31: Pepperberg did not claim that Alex could use "language", instead saying that he used a two-way communications code.{{cite book |title= Drawing the Line|last= Wise|first= Steven M.|author-link= Steven M. Wise|year= 2002|publisher= Perseus Books|location= Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn= 0-7382-0340-8|pages= 90–92}} Listing Alex's accomplishments in 1999, Pepperberg said he could identify 50 different objects and recognize quantities up to six; that he could distinguish seven colors and five shapes, and understand the concepts of "bigger", "smaller", "same", and "different", and that he was learning "over" and "under". Alex passed increasingly difficult tests measuring whether humans have achieved [[Jean Piaget|Piaget]]'s Substage 6 [[object permanence]]. Alex showed surprise and anger when confronted with a nonexistent object or one different from what he had been led to believe was hidden during the tests.{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year=2002 |publisher=Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |pages=101–102}} Pepperberg did not claim that Alex could use "language", instead saying that he used a two-way communications code.{{cite book |title= Drawing the Line|last= Wise|first= Steven M.|author-link= Steven M. Wise|year= 2002|publisher= Perseus Books|location= Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn= 0-7382-0340-8|pages= 90–92}} Listing Alex's accomplishments in 1999, Pepperberg said he could identify 50 different objects and recognize quantities up to six; that he could distinguish seven colors and five shapes, and understand the concepts of "bigger", "smaller", "same", and "different", and that he was learning "over" and "under". Alex passed increasingly difficult tests measuring whether humans have achieved [[Jean Piaget|Piaget]]'s Substage 6 [[object permanence]]. Alex showed surprise and anger when confronted with a nonexistent object or one different from what he had been led to believe was hidden during the tests.{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year=2002 |publisher=Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |pages=101–102}} Alex had a vocabulary of over 100 words,Benedict Carey (September 10, 2007), [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/science/10cnd-parrot.html?em&ex=1189569600&en=708c72b735b87acd&ei=5087%0A "Alex, a Parrot Who Had a Way With Words, Dies"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved September 11, 2007. but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could describe a [[key (lock)|key]] as a key no matter what its size or color, and could determine how the key was different from others. Looking at a mirror, he said "What color?" and learned the word "grey" after being told "grey" six times.{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year= 2002|publisher= Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |page=107}} This made him the first non-human animal to have ever asked a question, let alone an existential one (apes who have been trained to use sign-language have so far failed to ever ask a single question).{{cite book | title = Who Asked the First Question? The Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech | last1 = Jordania | first1=Joseph | isbn = 99940-31-81-3 |year = 2006 | publisher = Logos | location = Tbilisi}} Alex had a vocabulary of over 100 words,Benedict Carey (September 10, 2007), [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/science/10cnd-parrot.html?em&ex=1189569600&en=708c72b735b87acd&ei=5087%0A "Alex, a Parrot Who Had a Way With Words, Dies"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved September 11, 2007. but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could describe a [[key (lock)|key]] as a key no matter what its size or color, and could determine how the key was different from others. Looking at a mirror, he said "What color?" and learned the word "grey" after being told "grey" six times.{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year= 2002|publisher= Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |page=107}} This made him the first non-human animal to have ever asked a question, let alone an existential one (apes who have been trained to use sign language have so far failed to ever ask a single question).{{cite book | title = Who Asked the First Question? The Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech | last1 = Jordania | first1=Joseph | isbn = 99940-31-81-3 |year = 2006 | publisher = Logos | location = Tbilisi}} Alex was said to have understood the [[turn-taking]] of communication and sometimes the syntax used in language. He named an [[apple]] a "banerry" (pronounced as rhyming with some pronunciations of "canary"), which a linguist friend of Pepperberg's thought to be a combination of "[[banana]]" and "[[cherry]]", two fruits he was more familiar with. Alex was said to have understood the [[turn-taking]] of communication and sometimes the syntax used in language. He named an [[apple]] a "banerry" (pronounced as rhyming with some pronunciations of "canary"), which a linguist friend of Pepperberg's thought to be a combination of "[[banana]]" and "[[cherry]]", two fruits he was more familiar with. Line 39: Line 39: If the researcher displayed irritation, Alex tried to defuse it with the phrase, "I'm sorry." If he said "Wanna banana", but was offered a nut instead, he stared in silence, asked for the banana again, or took the nut and threw it at the researcher or otherwise displayed annoyance, before requesting the item again. When asked questions in the context of research testing, he gave the correct answer approximately 80% of the time.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3293_pepperberg.html|title=Ask the Scientists: Irene Pepperberg Q&A|website=[[PBS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018070320/http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3293_pepperberg.html|archive-date=October 18, 2007 |access-date=September 11, 2007}} If the researcher displayed irritation, Alex tried to defuse it with the phrase, "I'm sorry." If he said "Wanna banana", but was offered a nut instead, he stared in silence, asked for the banana again, or took the nut and threw it at the researcher or otherwise displayed annoyance, before requesting the item again. When asked questions in the context of research testing, he gave the correct answer approximately 80% of the time.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3293_pepperberg.html|title=Ask the Scientists: Irene Pepperberg Q&A|website=[[PBS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018070320/http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3293_pepperberg.html|archive-date=October 18, 2007 |access-date=September 11, 2007}} Once, Alex was given several different colored blocks (two red, three blue, and four green—similar to the picture above). Pepperberg asked him, "What color three?" expecting him to say blue. However, as Alex had been asked this question before, he seemed to have become bored. He answered "Five!" This kept occurring until Pepperberg said "Fine, what color five?" Alex replied "None". This was said to suggest that parrots, like humans, get bored. Sometimes, Alex answered the questions incorrectly, despite knowing the correct answer. Once, Alex was given several different colored blocks (two red, three blue, and four green, similar to the picture above). Pepperberg asked him, "What color three?" expecting him to say blue. However, as Alex had been asked this question before, he seemed to have become bored. He answered "Five!" This kept occurring until Pepperberg said "Fine, what color five?" Alex replied "None". This was said to suggest that parrots, like humans, get bored. Sometimes, Alex answered the questions incorrectly, despite knowing the correct answer. Preliminary research also seems to indicate that Alex could carry over the concept of four blue balls of wool on a tray to four notes from a piano. Pepperberg was also training him to recognize the symbol "4" as "four." Alex also showed some comprehension of [[personal pronoun]]s; he used different language when referring to himself or others, indicating a concept of "I" and "you."{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year=2002 |publisher=Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |page=106}} Preliminary research also seems to indicate that Alex could carry over the concept of four blue balls of wool on a tray to four notes from a piano. Pepperberg was also training him to recognize the symbol "4" as "four." Alex also showed some comprehension of [[personal pronoun]]s; he used different language when referring to himself or others, indicating a concept of "I" and "you."{{cite book |title=Drawing the Line |last=Wise |first=Steven M. |author-link=Steven M. Wise |year=2002 |publisher=Perseus Books |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-7382-0340-8 |page=106}}